Obon trip first stop
Originally published at megatiny.com. You can comment here or there.
In Japan, they have this ticket called the “Seishun 18 Kippu,” or the “Youth 18 Ticket.” Contrary to its name, this ticket allows people of any age to use it, and provides 5 days (not necessarily in a row) worth of unlimited local and rapid train travel throughout all of Japan. There are certain seasons when it can be used: early spring, late summer, and new year’s season. With no other plans for the Obon Holiday (a holiday for the rememberance of ancestors, a kind of Thanksgiving-like holiday), I decided to get a ticket and go somewhere. I had read online about this neat-looking museum in Shimane Prefecture, and decided that this would be my best chance to ever get to see it. However, with only being able to use the local and rapid trains, it would take at least 8 hours one way to get there. So I decided to split the trip up over the 4-day holiday, stopping in one place on the way there and one place on the way back. I also decided to take my (folding) bicycle so that I’d have a reasonable form of transportation in these small towns that I was going to visit.
My first stop was Hagi, in northern Yamaguchi Prefecture. Hagi is an old castle town on a sort-of-island on the northern coast of Honshu. On the train on the way there, I managed to get friendly with some other young 18 Ticket travelers going to Hagi, and so I managed some company for the afternoon.
We biked to the Shoin Academy and then onto lunch before it started to rain. We made it to the castle ruins (stopping for me to check in at my hostel on the way), and wandered around in the rain. The place was almost completely deserted-a nice change of pace from any place in Tokyo. It kept on raining, though, so by the time my companions had to leave for their next train (they were making the most of their ticket!), I decided it would be fine to rest and wait for dinner at the hostel instead of bothering to try to go around in the rain.
I ate dinner with my hostel roommate, and then we went on to the lantern festival. There are a couple temples in Hagi which have hundreds of stone lanterns, and they get lit up to welcome the spirits at the beginning of Obon, and then again to send them off again at the end. Luckily, the rain had stopped, so we biked to the temple. We got candles to place in a location of our choosing, to help get the dark temple grounds brighter. It was a pretty small festival, but they had custard taiyaki (my favorite). It started to sprinkle a little, so we headed back-actually the light rain was a nice antidote to the hot weather.
The next morning I left the hostel early before my 9:30ish train, and rode around while the weather was nice. Being so early, most places weren’t open, but one of the old houses in the castle town was just opening up for the morning, and let me in a little before the official opening time, so I had a nice wander around all by myself. I was offered a guide when she showed up, but I didn’t want to have to worry about missing my train, so I didn’t get the full tour. Soon enough it 9:10, so I headed off to the station to fold up my bike and wait for the next tiny train!